The Bears drafted wide receiver Tyler Scott in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, believing the Cincinnati product's 4.21 speed would mesh perfectly with quarterback Justin Fields' deep-ball prowess.
Scott arrived at Halas Hall hoping to develop a quick chemistry with Fields and become a reliable big-play weapon for the Bears' evolving offense. After spending six weeks of the Bears' offseason program gelling with his new quarterback, something immediately struck Scott about the Bears' franchise signal-caller.
Not his athleticism or arm talent. Those are obvious when you watch on Sundays.
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It was Fields' dedication to his craft that opened the rookie's eyes. Everyone inside Halas Hall trumpets the first to arrive and last to leave line when it comes to Fields, but that pursuit of improvement doesn't stop according to Scott.
“Just kind of how dedicated he is," Scott told NBC Sports Chicago on the latest episode of the Under Center Podcast. "We were on our way to the United Center one day for a team outing, and he got on a bus, and we're kind of sitting next to each other, and the whole bus ride, he had his iPad out, and he was watching film from practice, the whole time watching film. Everybody else is on our phones or talking it up, and he was sitting in front of us watching film.
"Just seeing how dedicated he is. We were doing sprints one day in practice, and we got to the end of practice, and everybody was kind of dreading it. And then he was like, ‘Well, I'm about to win every single one of them.’ And he ran every one, like, he was gonna win every single one of them. And so, you know, just having that mentality and just kind of leadership, you know, even if he doesn't say a word, those things are noticed."
After bursting onto the scene with his running ability last season, Fields must make a big leap as a passer this fall to cement himself as the Bears' future under center. The 24-year-old has worked to improve his footwork, timing, and rhythm this offseason to ensure the Bears' passing attack has the consistent bite it lacked in 2022.
It'll be almost impossible to judge Fields' growth until the games start to count. Joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts and preseason games will offer a glimpse, but Week 1 will be the first time we can see if all the sweat Fields has poured into the bucket has paid off.
But for Scott and many inside Halas Hall, it's who Fields is that gives them confidence that the Bears' long search for a quarterback has finally come to an end.
“I think his calmness, his calmness, the calm presence about him," Scott told NBC Sports Chicago. "Just the way he kind of carries himself, he has just a calm presence about him. He walks around just with a confidence about him. And, and I think as a quarterback, that's what you should have, you know, as far as when you walk into a room, you know, people should be like, okay, Justin fields is here. You know, I'm saying that's a kind of, I feel like -- that's the same type of mentality that Desmond Ridder had when I was at Cincinnati the past couple years, when he would walk into the room. It was a different feel when he walked into the room. It was a Desmond Ridder's type of here feeling. And you have that feeling with him, when he walks into the room it's time to go to work. It's business.”
That calm presence is imperative when you're in the middle of a storm on an NFL Sunday. For Fields, it's not just his unflappable, cool-as-the-other-side-of-the-pillow demeanor that has the Bears' entire locker room believing in him.
It's also a leadership style that helps sow belief in the collective -- in the offensive unit the Bears have built.
Scott got a glimpse of this during OTAs when he blistered a defensive back on a vertical route, and Fields let one fly. The ball was a little overthrown, so Scott chose to dive for it, much to the chagrin of a Bears' coaching staff that doesn't want to see people on the ground during the offseason work.
Scott couldn't haul in the strike, but he got up he saw Fields hauling toward him.
"I ended up missing the ball," Scott told NBC Sports Chicago. "But I ended up diving for it. I was open, though. And so I got up and I see Justin Fields. He's running down the field, and he comes towards me, and he runs about 50 yards on the field. And he was like, 'Hey, man, that’s on me. It's a good route, man. But that's on me. That's on me.' So I was like, 'Nah, man. That’s on me, I gotta get on my landmark, I was a little too far outside the red line.'"
When he returned to the huddle, Scott got an earful about being on the ground. But that moment showed him that Fields has his back, and he hopes it showed Fields that he can trust his new rookie weapon.
"I think those type of things, especially me being a rookie coming in, something like that, I think just puts a trust inside a quarterback to know that if this guy is in OTAs, a rookie, he's putting his body basically on the line to go and catch a ball," Scott said. "I can trust him in the game to catch a ball, you know, when it's third-and-10. Or if it's, you know, a big play in a game or a big, you know, possession in the game. You know, to me, I think, you know, that moment kind of separates you from just kind of everyone else and just kind of puts that trust into the quarterback's heart to know that he's gonna give everything he has for me, and I can trust him. Anytime I need to make a throw, he's gonna give it his effort. And he's gonna give his all. He's not gonna give half effort on any play."
Last season, the Bears' passing game struggled to consistently move the ball. That was the product of a subpar offensive line, a lack of weapons, and Fields' inconsistency as a passer.
General manager Ryan Poles spent the offseason revamping the offense around Fields. After the young quarterback spent the first two years of his NFL career trying to push a boulder up a mountain while pulling an SUV, it's high time the Bears put him in position to succeed.
Scott is a big part of that plan. If he can be a reliable field-stretching option in Year 1 that can open up the middle of the field for DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney, Cole Kmet, and Chase Claypool to operate.
The Bears have a much deeper receiver room than last season. Scott won't be asked to shoulder a big load, but he understands that he was drafted because of how he can help unlock Fields and this passing game's top level.
"There’s always pressure," Scott told NBC Sports Chicago. "There’s always pressure, especially just playing this game at high levels, it's always pressure, and you just learn to get comfortable in it. And like I said, at the end of the day, I'm here to make his job easier. I'm here to make him, him great. That’s been my same mindset since I was in college. I would always say it's my job to make – whoever is behind center – it’s my job to make him great, and get his name in the newspaper."
That's certainly how Poles and the Bears drew it up.